Seasonal variation in biomass and species composition of seaweeds stranded along Port Okha,northwest coast of India |
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Authors: | Mukund C Thakur C R K Reddy Bhavanath Jha |
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Institution: | (1) Discipline of Marine Biotechnology & Ecology, Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Gijubhai Badheka Marg, Bhavnagar, 364 002, India |
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Abstract: | Port Okha coast, which is known for its luxuriant growth of a diverse assemblage of seaweeds on Saurashtra coast, is found
to have abundant quantities of seaweeds being drifted and washed ashore every year. Studies conducted for quantifying the
stranded seaweeds from May 2004 to April 2005 showed an average biomass value of 3.10 kg fresh wt/m2/month with maximum being 6.60 kg fresh wt/m2 in April. The stranded weeds constituted a total of 62 species during the entire study period. Of this, Rhodophyta ranked
high with 26 species followed by Chlorophyta with 22 species and Phaeophyta with 14 species. The stranded seaweeds that were
washed ashore provide valuable floristic information about the intertidal and near shore sub-tidal algae of the respective
regions. Although natural senescence of seaweeds is one of the major factors, strong currents primarily forced by tides, also
contribute to the uprooting and subsequent drifting of seaweeds on to the beach. This ultimately causes changes in floristic
features of the existing algal beds. |
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Keywords: | Abiotic factor biomass Port Okha seasonal variation stranded seaweeds |
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